Is racism like other trauma exposures? Examining the unique mental health effects of racial/ethnic discrimination on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD), and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

Abstract

Although scholars have increasingly drawn attention to the potentially traumatic nature of racial/ethnic discrimination, diagnostic systems continue to omit these exposures from trauma definitions. This study contributes to this discussion by examining the co-occurrence of conventional forms of potentially traumatic experiences (PTEs) with in-person and online forms of racism-based potentially traumatic experiences (rPTEs) like racial/ethnic discrimination. Additionally, we investigated the unique association of rPTEs with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD), and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), accounting for demographics and other PTEs. Participants were (N = 570) 12-to-17-year-old (Mage = 14.53; 51.93% female) ethnoracially minoritized adolescents (54.21% Black; 45.79% Latiné). Youth completed online surveys of PTEs, in-person and online rPTEs, and mental health. Bivariate analyses indicated that youth who reported in-person and online rPTEs were more likely to experience all conventional PTEs. Accounting for demographics and conventional PTEs, in-person and online rPTEs were significantly associated with PTSD (in-person: aOR = 2.60, 95% CI [1.39, 4.86]; online: aOR = 2.74, 95% CI [1.41, 5.34]) and GAD (in-person: aOR = 2.94, 95% CI [1.64, 5.29]; online: aOR = 2.25, 95% CI [1.24, 4.04]) and demonstrated the strongest effect sizes of all trauma exposures. In-person, but not online, rPTEs were linked with an increased risk for MDD (aOR = 4.47, 95% CI [1.77, 11.32]). Overall, rPTEs demonstrated stronger associations with PTSD, MDD, and GAD compared to conventional PTEs. Findings align with racial trauma frameworks proposing that racial/ethnic discrimination is a unique traumatic stressor with distinct mental health impacts on ethnoracially minoritized youth. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).